Accompanying this post are some photos from a trip to a National Trust property called Castle Ward. It sits on the banks of Strangford Lough and is actually the real-life location of Winterfell Castle in Game of Thrones. It's one of my favourite places in Northern Ireland, its grounds are so vast and so wild, there is ample space for hours of exploring. It's the kind of landscape I'll definitely miss when I'm in Spain.

I opted to take a little break from blogging these last couple of weeks and decided, for the first time ever, not to feel terribly guilty about it. Sometimes keeping up with my blog can feel like a huge amount of weight and pressure which has really started to take the enjoyment out of it for me, especially with all the other commitments I have in my life right now- I'm sure every blogger out there can relate!

These last couple of weeks in particular have been especially busy. Not only is exam-time currently looming (only 2 weeks to go!!), but I'm also loaning a pony this term at uni which is taking up a significant amount of my time. And so, at the moment I'm just going to let myself blog at whatever pace I can manage, whether that's once a week or once a fortnight. I'm hoping that removing that element of stress will really help me to appreciate blogging when I do have the time to do it.

In any case, I'm back with a Sunday in Verse. This is one of my favourite poems; a reminder of the quick passing of time and very appropriate for me at the moment, I think.

Firstly, apologies for the (relatively) long absence! I've just been finishing off some assignments I should have done over Christmas. You know, just the usual. Also, with these long winter nights/short days at the minute I keep forgetting to take photos early in the day while I can still take advantage of some natural light. Legitimate #bloggingstruggles right there.

Anyway, I'm back now with a little book haul. These are just a few books I've gotten recently either for Christmas or just from the other day when I had a little peek into Waterstones on my way around town and decided to treat myself.

W.B. Yeats with poems selected by Seamus Heaney

I've really been enjoying a good poetry anthology recently. It's no secret that I love Yeats, he's among my absolute favourite poets so I asked my mum if she'd get me this anthology for Christmas specifically because the collection had been selected by the late Seamus Heaney and I just feel like this combination couldn't actually get any better. I may have even shed a small tear at the sight of this.

John Keats with poems selected by Andrew Motion

I also asked for this lovely Keats anthology. I haven't read much Keats in the past but I saw 'Bright Star' earlier this year and just fell in love with the film and the story and so have since resolved to read some more of his work.

'Poems to Learn by Heart' edited by Ana Sampson

Ok so, this is a really nerdy fact about me but I started learning poems off by heart at quite a young age. I'm not really sure why I started, I just remember having to do a comprehension in English class on 'The Lady of Shalott' by Tennyson when I was about 9 or 10 and loving the poem so much I just decided to learn it by heart. Then, throughout my last years of primary school we had handwriting classes where we'd practise by writing out poetry- cue my very first introduction to Yeats through 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree'- and I started learning those off too and since then it's just something I've kept doing. It's strange but I find it really relaxing and it's also been a helpful practice for me especially during times when I've suffered from bad anxiety since it really takes your mind elsewhere.

Anyway, I spied this anthology, 'Poems to Learn by Heart' and just couldn't not get it. It's separated into chapters by subject matter, which is everything from magic to love to war. I'm yet to have a proper look at it but I'm very much looking forward to having some time off where I can really spend some time looking through. (I've just had a quick look and 'The Lady of Shalott' is in there- this is fate, pretty much).

'The Girl with All the Gifts' by M.R. Carey

Finally, after receiving so many recommendations, I decided to pick up 'The Girl with All the Gifts' by M.R. Carey and 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn. I actually already have 'The Girl with All the Gifts' on my Kindle, but recently I've really been feeling like there's nothing quite like an actual real, physical book. Don't get me wrong, I love my Kindle (especially because e-books are so much cheaper!) but it's just not the same. I just find it so satisfying when you're really getting through a book and you can see the bulk of it getting thinner as you go along. Kindles almost make reading quite laborious in that sense because you're just sort of continually flicking through this endless wordy abyss. And besides, I've pledged to read the printed word!

'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn

I know I'm a little late on the bandwagon with 'Gone Girl'. To be honest I wasn't actually planning on ever reading it just because, despite the hype, I just didn't really think it sounded like my kind of thing. However my friend, Hilary assures me it's an excellent read so I thought I'd finally give it a go.